Birth Order and Screen Time as Predictors of Emotion Comprehension Development in 5- to 7-Year-Old Boys and Girls

Early childhood is a sensitive period for the development of emotion comprehension. Although family factors are known to influence emotion comprehension, the specific role of birth order remains understudied. In the modern context, research on predictors of emotion comprehension should control for screen time.

This study investigates whether birth order predicts emotion comprehension development in 5-6-year-old children over a one-year period, controlling for screen time.

The sample consisted of 84 boys and 83 girls recruited from two-child families with age gap between siblings not more than 5 years. During the study's first stage (T1), the children were in the penultimate year of kindergarten. The study's second stage was one year later. The Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC) was used to evaluate emotion comprehension. Data on birth order, age difference between siblings, and screen time were collected via a questionnaire for caregivers.

Birth order was not a significant predictor of the emotion comprehension development in boys and girls. However, in the exploratory model for girls, higher active screen time at T1 was associated with smaller gains in emotion comprehension over one year.

The findings are exploratory and require further testing; future research should formally test whether sex moderates the association between active screen time and emotion comprehension development. The absence of birth order effects may reflect insufficient statistical power rather than a true null relationship. Subsequent studies with larger samples should examine why active screen time affects emotion comprehension development in girls.